Enjoy and challenge creativity and problem-solving skills in a world of wonder. Once you sign up for Wonderment, a social platform for kids, choose a bot or secret identity. Given a choice to follow many different paths, kids determine the subject of interest. The paths are real-world problems from around the globe. View a video, story, or idea. Design a response using text, photos, or a video. Join a chat to allow comments or ask questions to make global connections. After each posting, special points are added to make the bot design more elaborate. A personal Wondermeter rises with each response. Through donations, this non-profit brings technology to children around the world. A call for adults to serve as mentors to respond to each child challenges adults to join in the fun and make the world a better place. Register with email. Children under 13 need parent or teacher approval to participate. Watch the two short videos to see an explanation for The Wonderment and How It Works.

In the Classroom

Wonderment is a problem based learning adventure for each student around the world to communicate and collaborate with other students. This venue allows great lesson ideas for digital citizenship and digital footprints. Begin by choosing a path for the entire class and feature on an interactive whiteboard. Have students work in small groups to choose their best response. Discussions after can focus on creativity, problem solving, and collaboration between the group and others from around the world. In a gifted class, use as a way to challenge kids to break through the "right answer" and find the "best answer." Use this as a model for finding authentic needs in your community. Be sure to share a link to this tool on your class blog, website, or Edmodo account. Use this tool as the answer for the parents who always want more challenge and enrichment for their students at home. Be sure to share at a staff meeting to spread the wonder for other students and adults.

TextProject's YouTube Channel has many videos to provide support in reading instruction for beginning and struggling readers. Choose from playlists with subjects including Texts That Teach, Literacy Leaders Answer CCSS Questions, Vocabulary Matters, Teaching English Learners Vocabulary, and much more. Click Playlist on the menu to see them all. Be sure to subscribe to this YouTube Channel to receive notification of new additions. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Share individual videos with parents to help them understand different reading strategies. Embed a video of the week on your class website or blog for parents. Share with colleagues as part of your ongoing professional development.

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) offers an evaluation tool to assess the use of technology to enhance learning for K-12 students. This rubric evaluates the level of technology integration along with characteristics of a learning environment. Click on a content subject in any of the evaluation tool boxes to view a video of an example lesson in a classroom demonstrating different levels of technology integration. As a complement to the evaluation tool, view resources found within the rubric sorted by grade level, type of digital tool, and resources by choosing links at the top of the page.

In the Classroom

Use the matrix to evaluate how you use technology in your classroom. Share with administrators and peers as part of your ongoing professional development. View videos to understand different ways to incorporate technology in your classroom.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site as a resource for finding enrichment lessons and for working with gifted students. Share this project with your school's gifted teacher to use with students. Modify and use lessons from this site in your regular classroom, differentiate as needed for different student needs. Be sure to check back for additional lessons added to the site. Some of the seventh and eighth grade lessons are suitable for high school students, also.

Convert, edit, and save video files with Freemake Video Converter. The video converter supports over 300 file input formats including video, audio, and image files. Use templates provided to turn photos or images into slideshows with a chosen soundtrack. Other features include the ability to clip and rotate video, upload to YouTube, and convert files to burn and save on Blu-ray or DVD. Be sure to watch the video on the site with directions on how to use this tool. It is a YouTube video so you may need to watch it somewhere other than at school.

In the Classroom

Share with students for use with any multimedia or presentation project. Use this tool to backup videos on your YouTube channel. Bookmark and save this video converter for use as an alternative to Keepvid, reviewed here. This tool and Keepvid are both used to download and save videos at home that you wish to show to students, especially if they are blocked at school. If you want to use the video at school, you may need to save the conversion to a USB stick, if a CD drive isn't available.

Give real-world, relevant lessons in personal finance with H and R Block's help. Two educational online games, Beyond the Mission, and Murktide Invasion feature missions with the main characters facing financial dilemmas. Students must develop ways to solve the challenge. Budget Challenge lesson plans include Budgeting, Reading a Paycheck and Understanding Challenges, 401K, Insurance, Savings, and Credit Scores and Loans. Thirty-minute workshops include budgeting, credit cards, and student loans. Teacher submitted lesson plans feature portfolios, cost of living, and checking accounts. Two annual scholarship opportunities continue from September through April and involve classes and individual students. The Video Vaults contains past winners of the Challenges. Keep up with the blog for further articles and ideas. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Put relevant, real-world opportunities into content area subjects by using a problem based financial literacy lesson plans, challenges, or online games. Use the lesson plans or choose the parts that are relevant to your curriculum. For younger students, offer in a gifted or enrichment class. In middle or high schools, make this part of your regular curriculum. Use as a reference for a problem-based learning situation involving raising money or spending money carefully and effectively. The Budget Challenge is available at multiple times from September through April. Challenge your students to participate nightly to earn points. At the midway point and the conclusion; the top classroom will win grants. Have students make a checklist using a tool such as Strike, reviewed here, to keep up with information during the game. Have students journal their daily progress in your class blog. Be sure to keep a page on your website for students to record any challenges they face. Review these periodically as needed.

Continue this study with a well hooked next step, careers! Students can find opportunities to explore their career interests preparing for the next step, colleges and universities! All of the work completed with financial literacy, career planning, and college preparation can go into a multimedia portfolio. Create a multimedia presentation using one of many TeachersFirst Edge tools, reviewed here.

Start a Personal Finance Night and invite banks, businesses, colleges, and universities to present relevant information. Students can also start small companies, decide upon a product, make plans, discover the capital needed, produce the product, and sell at an Economy Fair. Be sure to have students interview successful business leaders in your community and present these in a multimedia presentation. Tie in relevant literature; biographies, investment stories and financial books such as Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. Make a difference to change the lives of your students forever.

In the Classroom

Create cards, posters, or photo collages for any classroom presentation. Share what you created on your website or blog for students to review or for students who were absent. In the younger grades, teachers would be the ones creating the project. Have students create presentations to "introduce" themselves to the class during the first week of school. Link or embed the introduction presentations on your class wiki and have others guess who they are about. Use this tool with your 1:1 art class for students to practice design principles and techniques. Share student projects with parents and others via URL. Be sure to demonstrate HOW to use this tool on your interactive whiteboard or projector.

The National Football League's official site for kids includes interactives, tips, videos, and links to favorite teams. Read up on the latest NFL news, participate in polls, or play the game of the week. Read stories from the Kid Reporter team with information about local teams and events. Click links to any NFL team to view season schedules and read the latest team updates.

In the Classroom

Share the latest polls with students and compare results to those found in your class. Create a quick poll (with no membership required) using SurveyRock, reviewed here. Create a link on classroom computers and allow students to read headlines and the latest news, and then prepare a summary to present to the class. Follow the students' favorite teams through the site to use as story starters and journal topics. Practice math by following statistics of National Football League teams. Have students take one of the polls, and then justify their responses through writing a short editorial article.

TextProject offers strategies, tools, and texts to bring beginning readers and struggling readers to high levels of literacy. Download materials for teaching reading such as vocabulary lessons, word pictures, literacy lists, and reading passages. Browse the TextProject Library to find book collections, professional articles, and videos available on their YouTube Channel. Be sure to find time to explore the Classroom Materials part of the site, with many printables and Teacher's Guides for use with all reading levels. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

If you teach reading or are an ESL/ELL or resource teacher for students with special needs, you will want to bookmark this site! Take advantage of all of the free downloads on the site, including forms, checklists, lessons, and reading passages. Share this site with parents to help them understand the process of learning to read and finding materials for their student. Share this site during professional development sessions when discussing reading instruction and alignment to Common Core Standards. Be sure to sign up for TextProject's monthly newsletter to stay up to date with all new additions to the site.

Engage your audience with zoomable images using Closr. Create an account and upload an image to begin. Add "Spots" and descriptions of any location on the image. Use the zoom feature to zoom in on any area on the image. Highlight and describe information. When finished, share using the embed code, URL, or social media links. Free plans include creating up to 5 canvases. Currently this site is also available as an iOS App.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share Closr with your school's art teacher as an excellent way to highlight and feature details on artwork. History and science teachers can use Closr to zoom in on parts of the microscope, cells, historic buildings, battles, and more. Have students upload an image to demonstrate different parts of plants, landforms, or shapes found in images.

Digital Compass is an animated interactive designed to teach middle school students about digital citizenship. Each of the eight characters demonstrates a different topic such as cyberbullying and Internet safety. Along the way players choose different options. Some choices have positive results, and others have negative consequences. This tool is also available in Spanish. Find an Educator Guide for suggestions about how to use this tool in the classroom and PDFs for a Quick Start Guide and the Teacher's Guide.

In the Classroom

This site is perfect to incorporate into any digital citizenship lessons. Complete activities together on your interactive whiteboard while making appropriate and inappropriate choices along the way. Create a link on your class website or blog for use at home. Be sure to share Digital Compass with parents to use as part of their online safety discussions at home. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here, or Venngage, reviewed here.

Watchkin provides tools for a safer and cleaner view of YouTube videos. Use Watchkin to remove text, comments, thumbnail images, and most ads from any video on YouTube. Copy and paste the video URL into the Watchkin search box for automatic redirection to the clean version of the video. Install the bookmarklet on your search engine toolbar for easy video clean up while on the YouTube site. If your district blocks YouTube, then the videos may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

How often do you find great clips and video shorts from YouTube and you cannot show them or are afraid to show them even if you can get them through the school filter? Try using this to show clips or long videos to your class via an interactive whiteboard or projector.

Jump into stop animation using video devices instead of drawing. Find all you need to know when creating a stop motion animation (SMA) at the New York Film Academy. Discover simple, detailed instructions and the type of equipment required. The site also lists accompanying links to make SMA projects a breeze! There is a warning at this site for SMA - it is very time consuming and requires a great deal of patience!

In the Classroom

Use stop motion animation as a new form of multimedia project for students to demonstrate their knowledge of the content, literature, and creativity. Use puppets, pictures, still photographs of people, Legos, or any other object to tell the story. Using any video recording device, incorporate with captions or sound to tell the story. In language arts, use SMA with retelling, alternate endings, students' writing, or commercials. In content area subjects use to demonstrate understanding of the topic with a digital story. Use as an alternate form of formative or summative assessment. Use as a journal for reflections. Offer as a choice for demonstrating knowledge. Put a link for these directions on your class webpage for students and parents to use at home.

The Google Takeout Tool is a backup service to your Google account. It allows you to back up and create an offline archive of your information stored on Google. Select what you want to archive then choose next. Choose the format to receive your archived data and delivery method. Receive data through email or directly into your Google Drive account.

SurveyPlanet makes creating surveys, polls, and quizzes quick and easy. Create an account with your email and see how many free features they have for you! The basics include unlimited questions and responses, color themes, various types of questions, a bank of questions for many different industries, and then there are special free features. Some of these are storage of your survey and results for a year, four types of results charts, duplication of surveys, survey embedding and much more. SurveyPlanet supports over 20 languages.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use SurveyPlanet for daily quiz questions as a formative assessment or to check for understanding of a previous lesson. Use as an anticipatory guide for introducing new content. Use to check for understanding after a lecture or demonstration. Use a class account to have student groups alternate to create a new poll for the next day. Older students may want to include polls on their student blogs to increase reader engagement. Have students create polls for after a project presentation. Use polls to generate data for math class (graphing), during elections, or for critical thinking activities dealing with the interpretation of statistics. Engage students using "real" data from a survey of issues and current events that matter to them. Use it to serve as a class voting device. Students can use their mobile devices to answer the survey. However, it is best to create them on a laptop or desktop.

Find a one-stop shop for digital storytelling at this site, created by the University of Virginia. Produce quick and easy digital storytelling projects and find detailed instructions for creation. Begin with the idea map. Go to the script and prepare your dialogue. Narrate and record the script. Add images to go with your words. The site also lists other resources featuring digital storytelling. Join the community blog to grow and explore other peoples' ideas. Enjoy the featured story to find an excellent example.

In the Classroom

Emerge your class into higher level thinking skills and the 21st century skills involved in a digital storytelling project. Take any and all subject matter and dig deeper into the curriculum. Start small and gradually build up in complexity and depth. Draw or take your own pictures for this project, or find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course) at Compfight, reviewed here. Start by sharing the example on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Brainstorm examples with the content you are currently studying. Use digital storytelling as an alternate form of assessment. Be sure to post all student work on your website, blog, or Edmodo account to share with others.

Creative Educator offers articles, lesson plans, and resources for many different ways to put creativity into the curriculum. Explore four main topics: Creativity, Digital Storytelling, 21st Century Classrooms, and Project-based Learning. Curriculum related areas such as Literacy, English Language Aquisition, and Stem resources will grab your interest. Find a variety of lessons in Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies to integrate technology and pique students' interest.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Creative Educator, designed for teachers, helps you move past stale worksheets to get inspired! Be sure to look at this site to help you discover ways to integrate technology and creativity into lessons. Work with a partner to make the lessons fit in your situation. Share at staff meetings and offer new ideas. Look for ways to bring a new focus to your gifted students. Give as a resource to students, so they can choose a multimedia product to share the content knowledge they are learning.

Come to the Media History Digital Library to find digitized classic media periodicals available from the public domain. All of the collections pertain to the cinema, broadcasting, and sound. Periodicals such as Business Screen, Pictures and Story Magazine, Motion Picture Classics, and Radio Age have at least a five-year spread of content. Over 100 other periodicals are featured. When selecting a periodical, you may choose to read, download, or go directly to the site. Join the blog to discover recent additions, scholarship opportunities, events, and more.

In the Classroom

Use Media History Digital Library in your classroom as a secondary resource to discover the culture and setting of a time period while studying literature or even through history classes. List the clues and details that provide further information. Analyze the article use and its influence on society by using close reading techniques. In a multimedia class, discover the history and progression of cinema, broadcasting, and sound. Use to discover the influence of critical world events such as world wars, depressions, economic influences, an industrial revolution, and more. Analyze the artistic changes throughout time.

Word Sort offers practice with word patterns for grades 1 through 6. Choose a grade level to begin, and then a unit to start the activity. Even though this is a Houghton Mifflin site and the tool is aligned to their Spelling and Vocabulary materials, those materials are not necessary to complete activities. Drag and drop words into the categories provided, play activities with or without a timer. Upon completion, activities provide feedback on words sorted correctly on the first try and words that needed multiple attempts. With the Word Search, highlight words you find in the puzzle that match the list.

In the Classroom

Demonstrate how to play on your interactive whiteboard or projector, then create a link on classroom computers for use as a center. Use Word Sort to differentiate for different student abilities. Have students complete a word sort and then find additional words that use the word pattern found in the activity.

Confidently share YouTube videos without distractions or offensive comments with Safe YouTube (no registration required!). Paste the URL of a YouTube link into the bar to generate a safe view link and begin viewing. Use links provided to download or share through social networking sites. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Share "distraction-free" videos on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Removing distractions and having confidence in removing any offensive content makes for a better learning experience. Use this tool to limit distractions for your ADD/ADHD, Autistic, unfocused Gifted, and other special needs students. Less distraction = better learning experience for all.